


Reverof

by naturalblues



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: BDSM, F/M, Forgiveness, Gun Violence, I swear, Possession, Post GITF Angst, Romance, also by Jack, btvs episodes used as plot inspiration, but in a who sort of way, by the ghost, falling in love all over again, forced to actually communicate with each other, immortal!Rose Tyler, in period clothing, not by jack, the doctor and rose will both dance and then dance, this has a happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 09:56:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12651261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naturalblues/pseuds/naturalblues
Summary: After Versailles, Rose can use a distraction to try to heal. She and the Doctor head back to London to help Sarah Jane stop an angry ghost from destroying Coal Hill School. A two part Halloween fic with smut in the second part.





	Reverof

**Author's Note:**

> These are two episode rewrites of BTVS, done in a Whovian fashion. The direct quotes belong to Joss Whedon. 
> 
> I couldn't help it, I felt like these two episodes were really... just fit these two, so I used them for a Halloween thing to deal with some post-GITF angst, and then healing.
> 
> The book I took the Madame de Pompadour information from is quoted. The information on the frog is from a biologydiscussion.com. Song is by The Platters. There is some gun violence in this fic. Oh, and filth. Lots of filth.

“Hey,” came the sound of a masculine voice behind her.

 

Rose whipped around, the way that the breath had brushed her ear was uncomfortably close. He was attractive, sandy blonde hair and cool blue eyes. He looked like he’d stepped off a GQ Magazine cover, and she couldn’t have felt less attracted if she’d tried. He looked like everything she used to want, but now her heart belonged solely to a certain Time Lord, and other people just consistently fell short.

 

“Hey…” she tried really hard not to let her discomfort show, but her smile came as a bit of a grimace.

 

He wasn’t deterred for a moment, clearly used to women who played hard to get.

 

“So, did it hurt?”

 

She blinked a bit, her mind so filled with what’d happened over the past few days that she wasn’t able to keep track of the human being speaking in front of her.

 

“P...Pardon?”

 

“Did it _hurt_ . You _know_ , when you _fell from Heaven?_ Because, baby, I know an _angel_ when I _see_ one.”

 

Oh god, what a shite attempt at pulling someone. Her disgust must’ve shown, but again, he wasn’t even a little bit deterred.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m really not interested…”

 

“Let me _guess_ . You’re a _lesbian_. You have eight boyfriends, you’re married, you’re a nun, or whatever excuse.”

 

“...No… but I _am_ pansexual. No, _not_ attracted to kitchenware.” she smiled a bit, trying to enjoy her own joke, but the way he was looking at her told her that even if she wasn’t totally in love with the Doctor, this man wouldn’t be a good choice anyhow.

 

“What _ever_ ,” he snapped, and rolled his eyes, walking away. “You’re not even worth the effort to slob my knob _anyways_.”

 

As he was leaving, he got shoulder checked by Keisha. She raised an eyebrow at her longtime friend, and offered her a drink.  
  
“Kahlua n Cream. S’your favorite!” she attempted, smiling widely at Rose.

 

Rose took the glass gingerly, and blinked down at it. She hadn’t had one in what felt like forever. She had a sip, and made a sour face. “Oh, but it’s _so_ thick!”

 

“What is?”

 

“The sugary bits. It clings to your teeth, I don’t like that…” she murmured, but at Keisha’s look, became a bit embarrassed and began fiddling with the glass.

 

“All right, that’s it. Spill it.”

 

She bit her inner cheek and shrugged a bit. “Dunno… I jus’... I thought that…. Me an’ him were somethin’ _special_ . But…. on our last trip, he went and got his head turned by this…. Beautiful French woman…. She was _really_ elegant. Wore such beautiful clothes, and knew how to be all demure n tha’...” her eyes were brimming with tears, and she struggled against the burn in her throat.

 

“Eugh, _men_ ,” Keisha snipped in disdain. “You’re bloody wasted on ‘em, y’know? You deserve so much better.”

 

“I love ‘im, I do….” she looked down at the cocktail she wasn’t going to drink, and sighed a bit.

 

“You should _tell_ him that. Tell him he hurt you.”

 

“She hurt him too….” she whispered, closing her eyes a bit against the image of the kiss she’d seen. “I can’t be selfish. He’s in mourning right now… that woman, she… she _died_ ….”

 

Keisha knew well enough about her own brusqueness to know that she didn’t have the right words to say about that, but she hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry.” She stroked her childhood friend’s hair, and just stayed there while Rose composed herself a bit.

 

“So… pulling someone for a one-nighter is out. How about we head to a chippy?”

 

Rose gave her a watery smile and nodded, heading out the door past the douchebag who was pulling some other blonde with the same line.

 

* * *

 

When Rose headed home from the chippy, something felt off in the air. The entire ride back to her station had felt off, and as she climbed the steps in her heels, that didn’t change. Making it into her flat, she could see everyone was wide awake -- her mum was pouring tea for the Doctor and Sarah Jane, and they were loudly discussing something, hovered over what appeared to be a newspaper at the table.

 

“Wha’?”

 

Her voice made everyone suddenly whip round to look at her, and the Doctor smiled, before he took in how short and glittery her halter dress was, and his vision darkened into a heat, followed by a scowl of disapproval.

 

Rose, however, only spotted the disapproval, and crossed her arms over her chest a bit. She just…. wasn’t classy.

 

“What’s going on?” she asked, at the same time that Sarah jumped out of her chair with a “Rose!”

 

Sarah Jane embraced her, and she smiled, happily. She’d missed the other woman.

 

“Well, there’s something going on up at the Coal Hill School, actually. There’s been a series of murder-suicides, but the last one, he survived. He was found before he could shoot himself, and he has quite a story about it. We think there’s something alien about it.”

 

Rose brightened up, instantly. Maybe she and the Doctor could get back into their old rhythm, and she could forget about _that woman_ and maybe…. Maybe they could be how they were again. She ran off to get changed, wiping off her makeup with micellar water. She came back out in her jimjams and sat down, listening to Sarah describe the way the newspapers were describing the incident.

 

“Each time, it appears to be people who had no other relationship with each other outside of simply being in the same school. No one close to each other, no lover’s spats, nothing. But the boy who survived said that he’d been taken over by this _thing_ that he didn’t understand, insisted it was a ghost or an alien, claims no memory of the incident. Well… claimed. He returned to school with his mum, and ended up taking his own life. Shot himself in the head. But they weren’t able to find the gun.”

 

Jackie’s eyes were wide, and she was leaning in close with her mug between her hands, her daughter mirroring that.

 

“That definitely sounds up our street, doesn’t it?” Rose asked, hopefully. “We can help put a stop to it, yeah?”

 

The Doctor was in the zone, and he nodded quickly. “Absolutely. But we’re going to have to go undercover to figure this one out--”

 

“Oh no, no, no, no…. I am _not_ going to be another _lunchlady_ ….”

 

“Of _course_ not,” Sarah soothed, giving Rose a side hug and rubbing her shoulder a bit. “You can pose as a student. The Doctor can pose as a teacher, and I…. I suppose I can be a school counselor. I’ll get the most information from grieving students that way.”

 

Jackie had qualms, but she knew better than to think her daughter would actually stop what she was up to and listen to them.

 

“So that’s settled then!”

 

“I don’t think I need to tell you to be careful….” Jackie murmured, before glaring at the Doctor. “Of course, with him about--”

 

“OI!” the ‘him’ in question protested. “ _Rude!_ ”

 

It was starting to feel normal again.

* * *

 

 

Her first day started off with her receiving her class schedule, and making it to history -- severely late, of course, because why would anything in her life go right, right now? -- and being awkwardly introduced by the teacher.

 

“Rose Smith. Ah, you’re the new guidance counselor’s daughter, right?”

 

Rose smiled, and nodded a bit. “Yeah, that’s…. Mum….”

 

“Awesome! Well, I’m sure you’re just as sweet as she is!”

 

She gave a strained smile and went to her seat, where those around her purposefully avoided looking at her.

 

This was going to be just as awkward as when she was actually _in_ school. But luckily, the teacher began to lecture, and she was able to relax and listen better than she ever had when she was in school, before Jimmy had convinced her to drop out.

 

“Today we’re going to discuss the uncrowned Queen of France, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, also known as--”

 

_Madame de Pompadour. Shit._

 

She felt like she just couldn’t escape Versailles.

 

“--who in the eighteenth century, rose beyond her class status and gained title of _maitresse-en-titre_ to Louis XV, King of France. She was able to remain the King's mistress between 1745 and 1750, and remained powerful as the King's confidante until her death in 1764….”

Replaced in the sack after five years. That had to have been a blow to her. Rose should have felt victorious to hear that, but instead she just felt bad for the woman. She knew what it was to worry about being replaced. Reinette was Rose’s _Jolene_.

 

“Madame de Pompadour was born Jeanne-Antionette Poisson on December 29, 1721 in the rue de Clery. Her father was Francois Poisson, a steward to the Paris brothers, and was forced to leave the country after a black market scandal in 1725. At this time, her mother, Louise Madeline de la Motte, was befriended by Charles le Normant de Tornehem, who then looked over the family. When Jeanne-Antionette was nine years old, her mother had taken her to a fortune teller and was told that one day she would become the mistress of a king.”

 

Rose wanted to bury her head in the sand. She didn’t want to feel sympathy for the woman who had treated her like she was a stupid child. She didn’t want this.

 

“She was then given the nickname Reinette, meaning "little queen." Between the ages of eight and twelve, Reinette spent much time in and out of an Ursuline convent at Poissy where she received an education and first took interest in the arts. Once she returned home for good her mother insisted on giving her the best education because of her belief that she would marry a rich man. She was given voice lessons by Jeloitte, the star of the Paris opera, and taught elocution from a dramatist, Crebillon.”

 

More and more and more elegant than she was. But the elegance was just to try to pretty and plush her up like a doll for some man. How much of women’s lives had just been… _that_ ? No wonder Reinette had treated her like a threat. She’d grown up in a world where if she wasn’t the most useful and beautiful to a man, she was _nothing_.

 

Especially as a woman who’d been in a marriage and then was separated from her husband, whom she loved dearly. Mostly by her own design -- she’d wanted power, and she’d gotten it. It didn’t make Rose happy to think ill of the dead, but she was still so filled with this rage mixed with a horrific sadness. She was so angry that he’d fallen for this woman after barely knowing her. That he’d let her into his mind, that they’d kissed, that… that she’d been forgotten in the face of it.

 

When it came down to it… that was what she was really angriest and saddest about -- that he’d left her. He’d betrayed her trust to leave permanently. He could have taken her. There was room for two on that horse. They could have taken the Tardis.

 

He’d chosen not to.

 

But those same things that made her angry also made her sad to the point that she didn’t know how she felt, really.

 

“Because she could no longer meet her lover's demands, after 1750, the relationship between the King and the Marquise was based strictly on friendship. At this time she looked to play a larger role in the politics and government of France. On October 12, 1752 the King made her a duchess, the greatest favor he could bestow on her. Madame de Pompadour did not stay mistress to the king for long, in fact she stayed the king's lover for only five years. Nevertheless, she stayed a true and close friend to Louis XV until her death. To maintain her status, the marquise took a part in the politics of France. She also demonstrated her power and influence over the King in the way she was capable of removing her enemies from office and enabling her friends to come into government. She made and unmade generals during the Seven Year’s War and helped to bring out the famous change of alliances.”

 

Rose was sketching, instead of taking notes. All of this was being burned into her brain anyhow, no need to write it all down. As she drew, she felt a sort of inner peace, a feeling of protection the deeper she sketched.

 

“She wanted peace within France so it could be a strong world power. All of these proved to be disastrous to France, and led to the unpopularity of the Marquise. She was blamed for all the misfortunes that fell upon France. The public hated her and began writing vicious letters, pamphlets, and verses against her, and also began threatening her with violent campaigns. Despite the public's view of her, the King continued to remain faithful to the Marquise de Pompadour.”

 

As her pencil continued its movements along the paper, despite the messy sketchlines she should really clean up, her stomach stopped roiling. She could honestly understand the public’s sentiment. She already had a pretty poor view of her, but all of that hiring and then firing and rehiring just to flex a power muscle… while it certainly must’ve made politicians scared at the time, the amount of public unrest was understandable. Rose had seen so many governments toppled with the Doctor that it just clicked.

 

Not bad for a classless poor person with no A levels.

 

“In 1764, the always fragile Marquis de Pompadour came down with a violent headache. She was diagnosed as having congestion of the lungs. Two months after her diagnosis, the beloved friend of the king died at the age of 46. Madame Pompadour is proof that women had a role in history. Although she is not always portrayed in a pleasant light, Madame de Pompadour is a part of history because of her great qualities, talents, and influence.”

 

The haunted and sad look on the Doctor’s face when he’d returned, holding the letter, that was the only image she could see. Looking down, she was presented with a new image. In her distress, she’d sought something comforting, and from the leather jacket to the large ears and roman nose, she was greeted by a sketch of the way the Doctor had looked when he’d first met her.

 

Back when he’d _loved_ her. Back when he’d _needed_ her. When she’d been _wanted_ , if that basement had been any indication. _Dance_ , indeed.

 

Now, he didn’t seem to do any of those things. He didn’t fancy her anymore, or want to touch her, or look at her with that dark heat deep inside.

 

Instead, he wanted… _her_ . Something _elegant_.

 

Something she wasn’t.

 

The bell rang, and as everyone started to get up to trudge out into the hallways, her teacher called out, “Everyone, everyone! Don’t forget the homework! I want you to read the first 3 chapters of **_Louis the Beloved: The Life of Louis XV,_ ** by Oliver Bernier! There will be a pop quiz!”

 

Being a lunchlady might’ve been easier than this.

* * *

 

 

She made it to the hallway, and started digging through her bag, when she got stopped by a boy who was smiling at her.

 

“Hey! Um, I forgot your name, but didn’t we just have History together….?”

 

She blinked at him, and tilted her head to the side. “It’s Rose. Yeah, just came from there…. Classroom with the books and the pencils and the chalkboard, yeah?”

 

He chuckled at her, and ruffled her shoulder a bit. Oh dear, he was flirting. “That’s the one, yes.”

 

She smiled, and pointed to her head. “Like a steel trap.”

 

So I was wondering if you might be interested in coming to the dance tomorrow.”

 

“D….Dance..? Oh, the Sadie Hawkins one?” She quickly covered herself, after reading a poster behind him. “Don’t girls ask boys to that?”

 

_Aren’t you like, 17 and no?_

 

“Yeah. I’m Ben, by the way. Rose. Beautiful name, Rose. I was thinking that if you were free, you might… you know… ask me…?”

 

Before she could answer -- a firm _no_ would suffice, she thought -- a girl’s voice from down the empty hall they’d come from broke the silence.

 

“Oh my God!”

 

It was a shriek of terror, and a boy was holding her wrist in a vice grip that infuriated Rose. She’d been in an abusive relationship with Jimmy. Like _Hell_ she’d do nothing.

 

The girl managed to shove her assailant away, and shouted, “No, please!” and tried to run toward the balcony exit that lead to the upper breezeways.

 

“Don’t walk away from me, _bitch!_ ” the boy shouted after her, raising a gun.

 

“Hey!” Rose shouted, running to him and tackling him from the side, before he could fire it. They both hit the ground and the gun skidded across the hall. Ben was running over to help, struggling to help the girl up from the floor.

 

The boy who had attacked his girlfriend looked completely frightened, and stared into Rose’s eyes imploringly. “Wh….What happened?!”

 

“What happened?!” Rose asked, incredulously. “You just went serial killer on your girlfriend there!”

 

He looked completely baffled. “I… this is nuts… I don’t even know why I got so mad at her…”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re an abusive jerk?!” Rose snapped, not having an ounce of compassion for him.

 

“But he’s not…” the girlfriend piped up. “He’s never so much as raised his voice to me. We weren’t even fighting a moment ago… I just felt like…”

 

“We weren’t,” he said, holding his hands up. “It was almost like…”

 

“If you weren’t _fighting_ , then why did you have a _gun_?!” Rose demanded.

 

“I…. I swear…. It wasn’t in my hand a few minutes ago.”

 

“Then how did you get it?”

 

“Rose, I can’t find the gun…” Ben murmured, still scanning the hall.

 

Rose turned and looked down at the boy who’d had the gun, just as a hall monitor grabbed her arm.

* * *

 

“I’m sure you know why you’ve been asked here,” the Headmaster said from behind his oak desk.

 

The Headmaster’s office was something she’d become quite familiar with when she was in school.

 

“To….. thank me for a job well done?” She responded, weakly.

 

“Oh yes,” he murmured, pressing his hands together, and then pressing them to his lips. “Thank you so much for inciting mayhem, chaos, and madness in our school hallways on your first day.”

 

“What?! I didn’t incite! I stopped that bloke from killing his girlfriend! I mean, ask them! Ask Ben.”

 

He shook his head at her, and pursed his lips. “People can be coerced, Miss Smith. Your mother being a member of the school staff can be used to influence them. I’m no stranger to this sort of bit, and especially because of what’s been happening around here lately, for you to use that as an excuse is deplorable. I'm a truth seeker. I've got a missing gun and two confused kids on my hands. Pieces of a puzzle. I'm going to look at all those pieces carefully and rationally. And I'm

going to keep looking until I figure out exactly how this is all your fault.”

 

Rose’s jaw dropped in shock, and before she could respond with something biting, his intercom on his desk went off, and his PA’s voice came through.

 

“Sir, Bobby Fairchild chained himself to a tree again….”

 

He made an annoyed grunt, and pinched his nose. “Pathetic little no life vegan treehugger….”

 

Just as Rose started to rise, he snapped his finger and pointed at her as though she were a dog. “Not so fast, missy! You stink of lies! Stay put.”

 

She sighed, sitting back into her chair as he left. As soon as he shut the door, a book fell off of his bookshelf. She got up and walked over to it, seeing it was a yearbook, open to a page with a senior field trip to France on it. She blinked, closing it, and seeing that it was the Class of 1955. She shrugged a bit, sticking it back on the shelf and waiting for the Headmaster with a giant stick up his arse.

 

* * *

 

 

Sarah had been laughing at a table in the Teacher’s Lounge with Mrs. Jones, the Art Teacher, over some of her Uni exploits.

 

“So, we have to draw him nude, and that’s all fine, until he takes off his robe and he has an elephant trunk… _there_.”

 

“What?! Like, instead of--”

 

“No no, it was a tattoo of course, but _still_ …”

 

Sarah laughed, and then raised an eyebrow. “But did it make the noise--”

 

The two women dissolved into laughter, until Mrs. Jones had to go for her next class. Once she did, Sarah walked over to the Doctor’s table, sitting across from him.

 

“So,” Sarah Jane began, looking at the Doctor, who was grading papers and attempting to look like he’d heard none of the conversation. “What’s going on with Rose?”

 

“Hmm?” He looked up, and gave her a doe-eyed stare. “How do you mean?”

 

“I _mean_ , is she okay?”

 

“Whyever wouldn’t she be?” His false smile was given away by his eyes. No matter what the regeneration was, the manic smile gave him away, every time.

 

“I don’t know, she just seems… off. Basically, what I’m getting at is… what did you _do_?”

 

“Sarah…” he gave her a warning tone, shaking his head. “I didn’t _do_ anything.”

 

“Mhm,” she made the sound, but her face said she didn’t believe him for a moment.

 

The Headmaster entered, and gave her a look. “Ms. Smith. I’m sure your _daughter_ has delighted you with a version of today’s events.”

 

The Doctor choked on his tea.

 

“Um, no, no I haven’t seen her yet today. Events?”

 

“Where she tackled a boy to the ground and insisted she committed this act of violence due to sight of a gun. That we never found. I need you to impress upon her that we don’t accept any forms of violence in this school! Period! Tell her I demand the truth out of her by tomorrow!”

 

He was so dramatic about the whole thing, it made the Doctor wonder if he had pursued acting first.

 

“I… if Rose said there was a gun present, then there was, sir.”

 

“Then why didn’t we find it?”

 

“I don’t know. But when it comes to my daughter, she does many things, but _lie_ isn’t one of them. If she said she was protecting someone from a gun, then _she was_ , and she wouldn’t lie about anything so serious!”

 

“Doubtful. Teenagers lie all the time to their parents, who are all convinced that they’re angels. They’re wrong and so are you. Wake up and smell the coffee. Your daughter was _fighting_ in these halls. Then, she _lied_ about it! To come up with such a terrible, and obvious lie… I have serious doubts about her competence.”

 

The Doctor was furious, but before he could open his mouth and blow his cover, Sarah was hot on the Headmaster’s heels.

 

“Rose doesn’t do that. She’s _kind_ , and caring, compassionate, and _good_ , sir. She doesn’t lie, and she fights for other people. She’d never abandon her friends. She told you what happened, and for you to doubt her so severely sounds like you fell into job burnout decades ago. She’s smart. Maybe not by the books, but she’s got the kind of intelligence you earn if you’re lucky and brave enough. I have no doubts about Rose’s competence, but I do, on the other hand, have very severe questions about _yours_.”

 

With that, she left the Headmaster slackjawed to go back to her office.

 

The Doctor’s fury abated, and he got up, beginning to leave, one of her sentences nagging the back of his mind.

 

_She’d never abandon her friends._

 

It was a jab that he deserved from Sarah. Rose’s voice, demanding if he was going to do the exact same to her as he’d done to Sarah haunted him.

* * *

 

A few days ago, Mickey had left them. He’d left them for Pete’s World, but not before having some choice words for a certain Time Lord.

 

 _“You abandoned her! Abandoning_ **_me_ ** _is one thing, but Rose?! She was so goddamned hurt, and you don’t even care!”_

 

_“I do care! I never abandoned her. I had everything perfectly in control. Rose knows that.”_

 

_“Does she?”_

 

_“Of course she does! That’s why she’s the companion.” The hint of ‘and you’re not’ was palpable. “We’re the Stuff of Legends!”_

 

_“Then where were we?”_

 

_“What?”_

 

_“In space. Where were we?”_

 

_“In space. You’ve just said.”_

 

_“But where? In what galaxy? What was the name of the ship? What year? How could you possibly guarantee that you would have survived long enough to find us? That you’d know where to look?”_

 

_The Doctor continuously made noises, trying to come up with breezy explanations, but he was falling short._

 

_“Would you really have dedicated the time to find us?”_

 

_“Of course I would have!”_

 

_“Bollocks. You would have met others and bloody forgotten us!”_

 

_“Never!”_

 

_“You forgot her for a second, and that’s all it took! How could I trust you with centuries?! You’re a dumb prat, you know that?! You don’t even see how lucky you are! I squandered my time, but you, oh you’re the Lord of it! The LORD of Squandering Time!”_

 

_The Doctor hadn’t had a good response to that._

 

_“You promised her you’d never abandon her right before you went and done that. Exactly that. For some bird. Some trussed up concubine bird, didn’t even love you. Claimed to, but she also claimed to love her husband dearly before leaving him to become the King’s side bird. By choice she done it. Picked that, she did. Worked for it. Spent loads of his money to do it.”_

 

_At the Doctor’s look, Mickey laughed, but it wasn’t a kind one._

 

_“Yeah, I read about her during those five and a half hours you took to come back. Worst part is, Rose ain’t even cross at you for it. I’m the one who’s furious on her bloody behalf. Because she ain’t never been treated right by any bloke. But you were supposed to be the one who done better by her. Fuck you, Doctor.”_

* * *

 

The fight had devolved from there, but his choosing to leave not too long after and crush Rose further hadn’t helped.

 

She would _never_ abandon her friends.

 

But apparently _he_ did.

 

They heard a scream coming from the hallway, and all three of them made it out just in time to see a student being yanked into a locker against her will. She was fighting it, her knuckles white against the locker’s sides, shaking her head.

 

“Help me, oh please help me!” she howled, all of them rushing to her aid after a moment of shock. The Doctor struggled to yank her by the shoulders, while the Headmaster grabbed around the waist for a better pull. No matter how hard both men tried, they just couldn’t seem to make any difference at all. Not only were they not able to pull her backward, even by a centimeter… she was still moving forward.

 

Whatever it was, it was strong.

 

It yanked harder, almost pulling her all the way in despite their best efforts, when Sarah reached in and felt for the hand grabbing the girl.

 

She felt cold, clammy, mucusy flesh meet her touch, and was instantly repulsed. She stabbed it hard with a pen from her bag, and the girl was instantly released, falling backward almost comically with the other two. Sarah watched the arm, covered in greenish-blue rot, disappear into the locker for good.

 

From the look on the Doctor’s face, he’d seen it too.

* * *

 

The next day, Rose was finally in the Doctor’s class. While he gave her a friendly smile, her smile that returned was more than a bit strained. She was trying, but it was just hard. She’d spent the night with her Mum upstairs, and hadn’t even pretended to care about her homework. She didn’t want to read anything about Versailles, and didn’t want to do Maths, either. She ended up watching _Eastenders_ with her mum while the Doctor had stayed in the Tardis for the night, claiming something needed fixing.

 

She’d cried herself to sleep.

 

He looked down, adjusting his papers a bit, and feeling the tension from her. He hated this. How was someone supposed to survive daily life when the woman they lo-- …. When their best mate, well, when she was cross at them? He could feel her distance from him with every breath he took, and, respiratory bypass or not, he always felt like he couldn’t catch wind. He began his lesson talking about Indian frogs and hoping to forget about it for a short amount of time. She tried to be a good listener, and usually loved his science babble, but it was just painful.

 

“ _Rana tigrina_ is the most widely distributed species in Northern India. Generally frogs are found in ponds, tanks, pools, ditches, etc. However, they may leave their aquatic habitat to come on land to hunt for their prey, which are mostly insects. The frog is called an amphibious animal because it lives both in water and on land….”

 

She looked down at what she’d been sketching, and caught the words -- Bad Wolf. Her vision shimmered, and she felt a twinge of fear go down her spine before she heard something funny. Just a strange tone of voice… the teacher was no longer the Doctor! It was a woman, dressed in dated clothing.

 

“The frog is very well adapted both for jumping and leaping on the land and swimming or floating in water. Normally frogs can jump up to three feet. When a frog jumps to a shorter distance, it is known as leaping. The alternate kicks of the hind-limbs push the webbed toes against water, thereby providing the force for swimming. The boat-shaped body of the frog, mainly due to the absence of neck, is helpful in swimming.”

 

Her voice was so different. She looked at some of the girls sitting by her, giggling over a poster that said _Sadie Hawkins Dance 1955._

 

“Oh goodness, Beth. I’ve asked Ms. Callahan if I can help set up the decorations, so it won’t be that silly tissue paper cowboy like last year.”

 

“I know! It was such a disaster, Janet! Have you got a date?”

 

Janet flushed. “Robbie Parsons has told me, yes! You?”

 

“I’m going to ask Brad. I hope he gives me his pin!”

 

“Oh gosh, he’s _so_ dreamy!”

 

The girls squealed until the teacher hushed them, before giving the homework. The bell rang as the class ended. All of the students filed out, stopping by her desk to hand in their assignments they’d been due, and she was smiling at all of them so kindly. On her desk, it said Grace Campbell. One boy stopped by her desk to give her his paper, and Rose’s eyes fixed on how their hands brushed, and there was an obvious moment of heat between them before the teacher, Grace… looked away.

 

“Thank you, James…” she practically purred, before coughing a bit to cover it. That woman was aroused. It was obvious to any woman with eyes. “Have you been enjoying the book I’ve loaned you? The Hemingway?”

 

“Yes…” He breathes. “It’s… honest.”

 

“It’s based on a true story..” His hand slid up her arm, and she began to stammer. Rose frowned a bit. A teacher shouldn’t be talking that way to her student. Eighteen or not. “He… f-fell in love with his pu…”

 

They broke apart when the bell rang and people began filing into class.

 

She blinked again, and the image was gone, replaced by the Doctor teaching about frogs a bit too enthusiastically, and narrating what he was writing on the board.

 

“The hind-limbs are much longer than the fore-limbs and more powerful. The hind-limb consists of proximal thigh, the middle shank, a long ankle and a foot (pes) bearing five toes. The first toe is called hallux. The toes are connected together by a thin membranous web, which helps the animal in swimming. A medially placed cloacal aperture is present for the outlet of faecal matter, urine and reproductive product….”

 

He stepped away from the board, moving to point to the drawing he’d done and label each part of frog anatomy when he saw that he’d actually written something much different on the board.

 

_DON’T WALK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH!_

 

“ _What?!_ ” The Doctor looked as befuddled as she was, and he erased it quickly in a panic. He redrew the frog anatomy, and began labeling them with the class until the bell rang.

* * *

 

During the lunch period before hers, apparently, there had been a snake infestation. Everybody was talking about it, and it had been the Doctor’s lunch period, and so he had confirmed it with the other two.

 

Sarah thought it sounded like it was escalating. Rose couldn’t help but agree, from the locker incident that’d been described to her earlier, to everyone’s sandwiches being turned into snakes… this was one pissed off spirit, that was for certain.

 

Rose had waited until Sarah and the Doctor were both finished before she headed out of the school with both of them, the Headmaster pretending not to see them.

 

It was silent down the halls, and the Headmaster was the last to lock up for the day. He waved at the janitor as he exited, calling to him to have a good night. The janitor nodded a bit, called him a prick under his breath, and continued mopping the floor calmly, dreaming of the day when he could tell him to take that job and stuff it.

 

He was interrupted by Mrs. Jones, who was smiling and trying to step around the wet parts.

 

“Late night, Mrs. Jones?” He asked, cheerfully.

 

“Oh, yes. I couldn’t help it, all of the art students gave such meaningful work, I wanted to study it more carefully before grading.”

 

“Fair enough. They’re lucky you care so much, ma’am.”

 

“Thank you, George. It _is_ George, right?”

 

“Yes ma’am,” he murmured, flushing a bit and looking down. No one really liked noticing the cleaning staff, it made them feel uncomfortably bourgeoisie.

 

“Might I step here? I don’t want to mess up your work.”

 

“Of course, ma’am. I’m all done, that bit.”

 

As she stepped, she dropped her keys, and he reached down to grab them for her.

 

“Oh, Mrs. Jones!”

 

“Yes?” she turned to look at him.

 

“You’ve dropped your--” suddenly, his eyes were filled with inexplicable rage. He began to scream accusations at her, and they ended up in a game of chase that finished when a gun fired, and Mrs. Jones fell off the second floor breezeway. George, the Janitor, killed himself in the music room.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, what do we have?” Jackie asked, hopefully, as soon as they’d returned to the flat.

 

“Well, we have a Headmaster with his head up his arse, and we have a problem with my vision…” Rose muttered.

 

“What problem with your vision?” the Doctor asked.

 

“When I was in your class, I drew this,” Rose murmured, and held up the drawing -- of the Doctor’s previous incarnation, with the words _Bad Wolf_ written all over it. “I remembered. The words. What they mean. What I did.”

 

“What do they mean?” Sarah asked. She was out of the loop on this one.

 

“We were on Satellite 5, when we got attacked by the Dalek Emperor.” At Sarah’s gasp, she continued. “The Doctor sent me out, even though he was building a weapon. I don’t know… I think it wouldn’t have been ready on time. Emergency Programme 1. He wanted me safe, but I didn’t want that. I knew him and Jack… they were going to die. He sent me back here. Told me to let the Tardis rot.”

 

Jackie smiled a bit. “But he didn’t die, because my daughter and I started his time ship for him, we did. Tell her!” She really hated the thought of how dangerous their lives were, but she tried putting on a brave face.

 

Rose flushed. “We pulled the console off the Tardis. I looked into the heart of her. I saw everything… all that is, all that was, all that ever could be. Every time I see Bad Wolf, it is a message I’ve left myself. I left myself this urge to draw this. I left this message for myself. I’m telling myself something. There’s something I must do.”

 

“You nearly killed yourself is what you did! So you don’t have to do _anything_ !” The Doctor snapped. “You could have _died_ , Rose!”

 

Sarah blinked a bit. “All of that energy into your body. All of the huon and artron particles. How didn’t they kill you?”

 

“She lands, and she has so much power flowing through her she destroys the Daleks into dust with a wave of her hand. She was being burned up from the inside out!” The Doctor was going on, furiously. All of this pent up energy and anger over her remembering. “I took all of it out of her.”

 

Jackie had never heard this, so all she could do was tremble. Her worst fears were coming true -- her daughter was turning into an alien, and going to leave her.

 

The Doctor wasn’t only angry because he was scared of what would happen, might happen, if she remembered. No no, he was also unbearably jealous because of the sketch being of the other him. The one she liked better.

 

The one she’d loved, instead of the man she couldn’t trust.

 

“I became the Bad Wolf. I saved your life.” Rose was indignant, and then stopped, suddenly. “...Before you died.”

 

He wanted to make a biting comment, but instead he reached for her hand.

 

She pulled away.

 

Sarah was looking between them, and the Doctor waved his hand as though to bat away a fly.

 

“Vision changes, Rose Tyler?” His tone was more than a bit snotty. He was a jackass.

 

“Anyhow… my vision changed. I could see the classroom, but like it was in the ‘50s. In 1955. There were kids talking about the Sadie Hawkins Dance, and there was a teacher, Grace Campbell. She was close with a student, named James. Way too close. I think they had a thing going on.”

 

Sarah made a face, and shook her head. “Unfortunately, that’s not unheard of.”

 

“But earlier, in the Headmaster’s office, the yearbook for 1955 fell on the floor. It might be something, it might be nothing, but I believe in Bad Wolf. I believe in what I’m being sent. This is _important_.”

 

Sarah nodded, decisively, and everyone prepared for a long night of research. Rose didn’t bother with her homework.

 

Sarah found records of the yearbooks online, and they ended up going through them, page by slowly loading page, until Rose cried out upon seeing the boy’s picture. It was the field trip to France, and she pointed. “That’s him! Her, too!”

 

“Teacher, Grace Campbell. Looks like the boy is James Stanton. Her student, a senior.”

 

“I’d have bloody killed her,” Jackie muttered, and Sarah and Rose couldn’t help but agree.

 

“He was eighteen years old, going on nineteen, according to the records here.”

 

“That doesn’t matter. She was his teacher. It’s still not bloody right. How old was she? Forty? Fifty?! I expect that bit from _men_ , but for a _woman--_ ”

 

“Twenty four, looks like. Not at all uncommon, actually. Women’s education really hadn’t been considered on the level it is today, they wouldn’t have needed much schooling to become a teacher, and well… it’s one of the more feminine career paths. A lot of women throughout history became teachers until they found a suitor.”

 

“Your student isn’t a bloody suitor.”

 

The Doctor nodded in agreement. If one of Susan’s teachers had been fresh with her that way, he’d have gone after them with his bare hands. “Looks like here, there’s an In Memoriam. Says here that James killed Grace, and then took his own life.” He pointed to the laptop screen.

 

“Do you think it’s a ghost, then?” Sarah asked, raising both eyebrows. “Just a human ghost, not an alien at all?”

 

“It’d make sense. Probably possession, trying to act out the scene over and over, there’s a lot of rage there.”

 

Rose frowned. “Who’s ghost do you think we’re dealing with? His, or hers?”

 

“Probably his,” Sarah murmured. “The violent nature of this scene being the one repeated seems to fit.”

 

When everyone finally turned in for the night, it was Sarah Jane who was still at her computer, studying, typing. She’d been looking up exorcisms, and had asked Jackie to accompany them to school tomorrow. The Doctor was back in the Tardis, tinkering around and trying to ignore the rift between he and his….. He and Rose.

* * *

 

The next day, school was mostly uneventful, unless you counted the fact that Rose, the Doctor, Jackie and Sarah Jane were in the library all through lunch, and their free periods, discussing the best plan for an exorcism. Last night, she’d researched every kind she could, and come up with the perfect one. She pointed on a map of the school, right at the balcony.

 

“Okay. See here? The balcony area right ahead of the breezeway? That's where the original teacher was shot back in 1955 and where Miss Jones died. It's the hot spot where all the bad mojo is coming from. We need to create a Magnus Tripod-” she broke to draw on the map, trying to ignore her sad feelings. She and Mrs. Jones had become quick friends, and those were things Sarah was often short of. “One person chants here, in the hot spot, and the other three people chant in other areas of the school, making a triangle. It's supposed to bind the bad spirit. Stop it from doing more harm.”

 

The Doctor nodded a bit, and before he could say anything, Rose piped up.

 

“I’ll take the hot spot. If there’s any trouble, it’ll be there.”

 

“Not a chance, Rose Tyler. I won’t let you put yourself into that amount of danger.”

 

“Are you kidding me right now?!” Her hackles raised. “I can handle myself, a fact you should well know!”

 

The librarian shushed them.

 

“I feel like this ghost is fixated on you. The dreams, the feelings, the books. I don’t like it.”

 

Rose pinched her nose a bit. “Fine,” she relented, but she didn’t look fine. She was only giving in so as not to argue and add more tension between them. “I’ll take the ladies’ loo, downstairs. You take the hot spot.”

 

“All right.”

 

“What I don’t understand,” Jackie brought up, looking between all of them, “Is why he keeps repeating this same bad bit all the time. Does he really just love the violence? Seems out of place with someone supposed to be in love with someone else. I mean, abusive men exist, obviously, but… if he loved her…. _why_?”

 

“I don’t think he loves the violence, actually,” Sarah said, calmly. “I think he’s trying to work out the issues that have kept him in limbo. He keeps repeating the same action, over and over, expecting different results. Or maybe hoping for them.”

 

“He wants forgiveness.” Rose said, as if the thought just dawned on her.

 

“Yes. I imagine he does. But when James possesses people they act out exactly what happened that night, so instead he's experiencing a form of purgatory. He's doomed to kill his Ms. Campbell over and over again - and forgiveness is impossible,” the Doctor said, gravely. He understood wanting forgiveness for what he’d done, but this was needless murder, and it made him angry. “And the people drawn into it meet the same fate.”

 

“Good job it’s impossible. He doesn’t deserve it,” Rose snapped.

 

This shocked the Doctor to hear from Rose. She was nothing, if not compassionate. She was the one who usually reeled him in.

 

Maybe he needed to try to play her part, if she was going to play his.

 

“To forgive is an act of compassion, Rose. It’s not done because people deserve it.” In his mind, was anger, battleworn sight and a heavy leather coat shielding heavier hearts. His heavy hearts had been lifted by one pink and yellow girl, whom he was looking at right now. “It’s done because they need it.” She was so hurt, and he didn’t altogether understand _why_.

 

“No,” Rose said, shaking her head vehemently. “James destroyed the woman he loved in a moment of blind passion. That’s not something you forgive. No matter why he did what he did. No matter if he knows now that it was wrong, and stupid, and selfish, and thoughtless. He’s just going to have to live with it--”

 

Sarah cut in. “He can’t live with it, Rose. He’s dead.”

 

Rose deflated, and looked down at her paper, with all of the words. “What’s this?”

 

Jackie rolled her eyes. Those two idiots had something going on, and from a shared look with Sarah, she knew it too. Something put a bug up both their arses.

 

“This is the chant we need to learn for this evening. Memorize it all day, all right? Tonight, we work!”

 

* * *

 

They were back at school that evening at about 15 to midnight. The Doctor’s screwdriver had made it so they’d gotten in, and they rushed around to get to their places, with their candles.

 

The Doctor rushed up the steps, headed to the balcony. He avoided his own reflection -- he’d been doing that lately, not able to meet his own eyes out of guilt -- when he thought he heard a strange sound floating through the air, from down the hall. Music. He couldn’t quite catch the song, but he knew it was one.

 

He got to his spot on the balcony, and set everything up, preparing to light the candle. Just five minutes. Four fifty nine. Four fifty eight.

 

Sarah was at the center, and she could hear the music more clearly, but not quite. She was all set, and pacing a bit. She was worried. Jackie was in her spot as well, reading the little paper they’d given her, and muttering in annoyance about how life had been much less complicated until himself came about.

 

Rose, from the girl’s bathroom, heard sounds of music coming from the music room. It was a song, from the 50s. She’d heard it all her life, how could she not know it? But it really did make the atmosphere creepy. She stepped out of the loo for a moment, glancing into the music room, and seeing James and Grace dancing to the music. It was odd, peering in on a ghost like that -- until he looked up at her, and what she saw was a twisted corpse. She screamed, and ran back to the loo, grabbing her candle.

 

Jackie was in the cafeteria, screaming over a problem of her own -- namely, the giant mountain of black snakes, ever growing from the floor. She heard Sarah scream, but couldn’t go to her, as it was midnight, and time to chant.

 

“Oh god, stay the hell away from me.” she muttered, before beginning.

 

Sarah Jane was fighting with a corpse’s hand, pulling her through the floor. She kept fighting it, but the floor was like quicksand, and it only stopped when she lit her candle.

 

Every candle was lit, and when the Doctor lit his, he saw the words _Bad Wolf_ written in chalk on the ground. He was suddenly hit with a flash of memories not his own, of the romance between James and Grace, flashes of dancing, and then fighting, and then gunfire. He looked up, just in time to see a twisted corpse of a student grab him by both wrists and scream “ _GET OUT!”_

 

The Doctor fell backward out of his chair, but scrambled up just to light the candle. The ghost disappeared, as they all began chanting in tandem.

 

“I shall confront and expel all evil.” the Doctor spoke with conviction.

 

“I’m gonna whoop evil’s arse,” Jackie muttered.

 

“Out of marrow and bone,” Sarah murmured, the floor finally solid again under her feet.

 

“Out of house and home,” Rose murmured. “Never to come here again.”

 

* * *

 

It was silent. Too silent.

 

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the halls of the school, and put out every candle, making it pitch black -- but not for long. For once, Jackie wished she hadn’t clicked on her flashlight, as she suddenly came face to face with the largest cloud of wasps she’d ever seen in her life.

 

“.......Nope!” Jackie shouted, and ran out the door, down the hallway. She grabbed Sarah Jane on the way, and they ran for their lives away from the wasps, which were now infesting the entirety of the school.

 

The Doctor was hot on their tails, no one truly able to see as they kept swatting and struggling in defense. The cloud of insects, plus the vibrations of their buzzing made it nigh on impossible to concentrate on anything but _door_ , and Rose’s shout from right near them gave proof of her being in the exact same camp. This spirit was strong, and clearly didn’t want them about.

 

As soon as they stepped off school grounds and onto the street, they saw the entire school get covered with the wasps like a force field against anyone or anything that might try to enter.

 

The Doctor chuckled a bit. “Looks like school’s out for the foreseeable future, eh, Rose Tyler?”

 

The lack of response made him turn to look at her, only to find a panicked Jackie.

 

“She’s still inside! _Rose!_ ”

 

Jackie ran back toward the school, but the wasps attacked, and she screamed in pain, and had to be pulled back by the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

 

Jackie was breathing heavily, nursing her wounds, while Sarah tried to help her sit up a bit. The Doctor considered what he should do, trying to search his pockets for anything, but she grabbed him by the lapels and brought them nose to nose.

 

“Don’t you worry about me, you alien git, you get _her_.”

 

He looked her in the eyes, and nodded.

 

He ran into the school, and this time, the wasps parted to let him through, closing behind him. He wasn’t leaving her a second time. He was going to save Rose Tyler.

 

“What’s happening in there?!” Jackie demanded, tears coming into her eyes now that she had no one left to be strong for.

 

“I believe that James is trying to reenact everything that happened that night over and over again, trying to change the ending.”

 

“He’s going to use them as his dolls! She’s going to die! Rose!” Her last scream was blood-curdling, but there was no one around other than Sarah to respond.

 

* * *

 

He made it in, and the halls were dead silent. She was in the loo, right, she had to be there, or at least near! When he cut past the hallway nearest the balcony, he stopped when he saw Rose standing there, in the middle of the hallway, in tears, staring at a locker.

 

She was crying. She probably felt abandoned, yet again. This was becoming a theme.

 

“Fun fact about wasps. They haven’t got much of a taste for those who have a colder body temperature, usually. Two hearts, lower temperature.” He smiled his usual manic grin, but she didn’t respond for a beat. “Not that a sting would do me lasting damage anyhow.”

 

“You’re the only one. The only person I can talk to.”

 

The Doctor’s left heart swelled a bit. “Rose….” Were they coming back? Back to normal?

 

“You can’t make me disappear just because you say it’s over.” Rose turned on him, tears and a look of desperation.

 

“Wh-what? Rose, I---” The Doctor held his hands up in shock and surrender. “I don’t know what you’re on about. What would be ove--” he gasped a bit, and his eyes clouded, before looking at her with equal desperation. “I just want you to have some kind of normal life. We can never have that -- don’t you _see_?!”

 

“I don’t give a _damn_ about a normal life!” Rose shouted passionately. “I’m going crazy not seeing you. I think about you every minute.”

 

Her hand cupped his cheek, and he leaned into it, eyes closing as he enjoyed her touch. “I know, but…” He suddenly jerked away from her, tears brimming his own eyes. “It’s over. It has to be.” The Doctor started walking away from her, and from the look on his face, it was obvious that it was the most difficult thing he’d ever had to do.

 

“Come back here!” Rose called after him, getting into a jog to catch up with his brisk pace. She grabbed his arm. “You don’t care anymore. Is that it?!”

 

“It doesn’t matter.” The Doctor shook his head, his voice showing all of the tears threatening to spill. “It doesn’t matter how I _feel_ …”

 

Rose shook his arm, angrily. “It _matters_ ! Tell me you don’t love me. _Say it!_ ”

 

The Doctor’s jaw squared, and he sucked in some breath, before glancing at her, and giving her a rueful smile. “Will that help? Is that what you have to hear? ...I…. I don’t…” The lie was obvious, but the words felt like blows. “I don’t. Now _let me go_.”

 

Rose was devastated, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “No….” she breathed. “You don’t just wake up one day and stop loving someone!” She raised a gun that seemed to come out of nowhere, hand trembling. “Love is forever,” she murmured, face a grimace of anger.

 

“Oh my _god_!” The Doctor shouted, jaw dropped.

 

“I’m not afraid to use it, I _swear_.” Rose grit out every word, terrified of the words, but too far gone to stop the situation. “If I can’t be with you…”

 

The Doctor shoved Rose away from him, and bolted for the breezeways, making it to the balcony. Rose was right behind him, screaming after him. “Don’t walk away from me, _bitch_!”

 

The Doctor froze, when he was unable to run fast enough. He could do the math, even if he ran down the breezeways away from her, it was a straight line across. She’d have a perfect shot.

 

“Stop it! I mean it! Don’t _make me_ \--” She sounded so desperate.

 

He held his hands up, and turned, slowly, trying to diffuse the situation. “All right… let’s just… you know you don’t want to do this. Let’s both just…. Calm down…” His voice was so gentle, hoping to reason with her. “Give me the gun.”

 

“Don’t!” She snapped, furiously, confused, and in a teary rage. “Don’t _do_ that, damnit! Don’t you talk to me like you’re so much bloody smarter! Like I’m just some dumb--!” The gun went off with an involuntary twitch of her finger, and the look of shock on her face as she watched the crimson blossom on the Doctor’s chest proved that it was accidental.

 

She’d never planned on using the gun.

 

Jackie’s howl of Rose’s name was barely heard on the wind, as the Doctor touched his own chest in shock, pulling back and spotting the blood. “J… James….” he sputtered, before falling backward off the balcony.

 

Rose, during the moment the Doctor had been shot, could see him as himself for one brief moment, as she fought the spirit possessing her, but he was too strong. She looked down at the gun, devastated by her own actions, before she turned and walked back into the school, the spirit having taken her back over, each step feeling like her feet were filled with lead. She’d made an instant decision, one she’d never imagined she’d have to as she walked to the music room. The spirit had made it for her.

 

As soon as she made it into the music room, she pulled out a vinyl disc. She put it on the record player, and a moment later, _their_ song was playing.

 

_My love must be a kind of blind love_

_I can't see anyone but you_

_Sha bop sha bop_

_Sha bop sha bop_

 

She stared at her reflection in the glass, seeing how she was covered in tears, and didn’t look like the boy who would be playing footie in the future with his beautiful wife. She looked like…. A _monster_ . The words _Bad Wolf_ appeared in the mirror.

 

_Are the stars out tonight_

_I don't know if it's cloudy or bright_

_I only have eyes for you dear_

_Sha bop sha bop_

_Sha bop sha bop_

 

She lifted the gun to her own head, closing her eyes to prepare herself. He had no reason to live now. He’d killed the only person who mattered to him. He could ignore Rose’s mind’s protests, because all he knew was that Grace was dead. Regeneration? Never heard of it.

 

_The moon may be high_

_Sha bop sha bop_

_But I can't see a thing in the sky_

_I only have eyes for you_

 

He pulled the trigger. She saw nothing but white.

* * *

 

Her eyes opened, and she could see herself smiling down at her. There was a large expanse of white, everywhere… as though they were the only two characters drawn on a blank page. The version of her in front of her, she had her hair curled a bit, a braid at the front, and a strange outfit on. Her eyes were a deeply tinged gold.

 

Bad Wolf.

 

_“I’m so sorry for having to do it this way…” Bad Wolf murmured to her. “We had not planned to forget. The Doctor’s fear of our death superseded that. You should have been more prepared.”_

 

_Rose trembled, from the shock of taking her own life still upon her. She could only nod, dumbly._

 

_“You looked into the heart of the Tardis. You begged for the Doctor’s life. Damned the cost of your own. A pittance to pay if he could live. This Time Lord you love.”_

 

_Her nod was more firm this time, but she still looked at her hands, a shake moving up her body. It was a vibration that she couldn’t shake._

 

_“You were gifted forever with him, should you want it. You just had to pay with your own life. You have now paid.”_

 

_She paid. She paid in blood._

 

_“What if you needed to pay more? In order to save his life?”_

 

_"I will give anything to save him."_

 

_"Your heart."_

 

_"Yes."_

 

_"Your body?"_

 

_"Yes."_

 

 _"Your soul? Your mind? If I needed to rip your skin from your bones, crush your soul, destroy_ _you, wipe you from existence..."_

 

_"Anything you need. Just don’t let him die….” the gunshot wound was fresh in her mind._

 

_“Even if he does not love you?”_

 

_She nodded again, firmly. “I don’t love him to be loved back. It’s a dream, but not a requirement for me. I just need him safe, my Doctor.”_

 

_“The cost is your life.”_

 

_“Take it. I’m ready to be wiped from existence now.”_

 

_The amount of conviction she said it with affected the Goddess, the Bad Wolf._

 

_“Why?”_

 

_“Because a life without him is no life at all. Because I’d rather him live without me than not live at all. Because I love him.”_

 

_“You promised him forever.”_

 

_“I think he can forgive one small lie.”_

 

_“What if you received forever?”_

 

_“With him? I’d take it. Even if we were just friends.”_

 

_“You will outlive everyone you love. You will lose your mother to the other Universe. You will possess the knowledge that she will die long before you. You will be with the Doctor forever, but you will now have the Curse of the Time Lords. To outlive all others. Have no walls, no doors. You will be Time Lady, but you will only be able to regenerate into yourself. This is your curse, should you still accept it.”_

 

_She didn’t even have to think about it. Bad Wolf smiled, and whispered the rest in her ear._

* * *

 

Her gasp sounded in the room, and her eyes slowly opened, the brown becoming filled with a deep gold, glowing lightly. She knew what she was, now. She was a part of the Tardis, now. She would live as long as the Tardis did, and maintain her human form. She would never travel like it did, but she was a necessary part of it.

 

She stood up, and while the ghost inside of her was dizzy, he was determined. Blood soaked her shirt along the collar, covering her hair, but she didn’t have a wound anymore. A trembling hand held a gun to her temple, to try again. She allowed it, remembering Bad Wolf’s words -- that the ghost _needed_ this.

 

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked up in shock, seeing the Doctor right there, a bloodstained shirt and all, but he was alive, and breathing. He looked deeply into her eyes, and compassion was in them, instead of the hatred that James had feared for so many decades.

 

“Grace….” James, via Rose breathed.

 

“James…” Grace, via The Doctor responded. “Don’t do this.”

 

“B….but I killed you…” Came a sob, with a headshake. “I did…”

 

“It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident,” Grace tried to smooth over.

 

“I brought the gun. I did that. I don’t know why I even did that. I--”

 

“It was an accident….”

 

“It’s my fault, Grace. How could I let this get so far out of hand? I should have talked to you… I should have accepted your answer… You could have lived a full life… even if it was without me. I just want you happy. I was selfish. My selfishness got you killed.”

 

“I’m the one who should be sorry, James. I never should have… crossed that line. Not… not until after you weren’t my student anymore. But it happened, James.” At the half choked sob in response, followed by a nod, the spirit continued. “Then, I broke up with you out of the blue, and let you think I stopped loving you… what that must have done to your psyche...”

 

“Grace…” Came a whimper.

 

“But I never did. Never. I loved you with my last breath.”

 

The body James inhabited trembled, tears streaming freely. “I--”

 

“Shhhhhh….” A thumb wiped away the tears. “No more tears.”

 

The two kissed, and the lovers reunited, floating upwards and out of the bodies toward their next journey, and leaving the school forever.

 

* * *

 

Sarah and Jackie could see the spirits rise to the skies from where they were by the curb, Jackie still sobbing and barely being supported by Sarah.

 

“Th…. they’ve taken them both….” Jackie whimpered, crumbling against her new friend. “They’ve taken them both. Both of my kids.”

 

“Kids…?” Sarah could only ask, emphasizing the plural.

 

“Oh come off it, he was _practically my son-in-law_!” came the heated response, before Jackie fell to her knees.

 

“Jackie…” Sarah wasn’t able to comfort her. She just shook her head, softly. The Doctor had found a family.

 

"You're not supposed to outlive your own children. It's unnatural... they... they say that when a parent dies, the child feels their own mortality. But when a child dies, the parent feels a loss of their immortality..."

 

Sarah Jane could only hug her, tightly, eyes screwed shut and sending a prayer to anyone who was listening that both of them were okay.

* * *

 

 

Rose stopped, in shock, realizing that she was kissing the Doctor, who seemed to come to the same realization at the exact same time.

 

_I don't know if we're in a garden_

_Or on a crowded avenue_

_Sha bop sha bop_

 

He pulled away, staring her in the eyes, and catching the gold. It sent him into a panic, and he pushed aside the processing of what had just happened to begin rambling to her.

 

“Rose, how did you? It doesn’t matter, Rose, please, oh please let it go, please don’t die on me, I can’t lose you!”

 

_You are here_

_Sha bop sha bop_

_And so am I_

_Sha bop sha bop_

 

Rose choked a bit, and shook her head, coughing a bit of huon particles out of her mouth. She had extra.

 

She used the extra power she had to bolster her, touching his temples firmly with her index and middle finger of each hand, and sending him a quick flash of everything that Bad Wolf had told her. She then collapsed against his body, and he struggled to properly catch her, to get a grip on her body.

 

_Maybe millions of people go by_

_But they all disappear from view_

 

She loved him.

 

She loved him. Her. The girl made of pink and yellow, the most precious woman in the whole universe… loved _him_. He stroked her hair back from her face, looking down at her. “Precious girl…. I love you too,” he whispered against her cheek as he placed a kiss there, her lack of ability to hear him making him brave.

 

They could be together. He didn’t have to worry about watching her grow old and die without him. He didn’t have to worry about losing her. Selfishly, he relished the fact that she was part of the Tardis, and couldn’t be parted from it very far or for very long anymore. That meant that no matter how furious she was with him… she couldn’t _leave_ him.

 

He picked her up, princess-style, and began to walk gravely out of the school’s halls, toward her mother and Sarah, who both must’ve heard the gunfire and thought the worst.

 

_And I only have eyes…. for you_

 

They had forever now.

 

_Sha bop sha bop_  
_Sha bop sha bop_  
_Sha bop sha bop_  
_Sha bop sha bop_  
_Sha bop sha bop_


End file.
